By: Steven SchaferChristians fall into two viewpoints - revisionists and traditionalists - in the debate regarding the inclusion of LGBTQ people and their relationships in the church. Neither side is asking the more pressing questions.

By: Leanna K. FullerChurches can disagree on many things, but most of us agree that racism is fundamentally wrong. Saying nothing is both a mark of privilege and a sign of complicity. This is a time for moral courage.

By: Joe LaGuardiaWe have to change the tone of our bitterly divisive and punitive politics. We can either do nothing or work constructively - together - to bring about the change and transformation we all long to see in the world.

By: Larry EubanksComplementarianism modifies patriarchy but doesn't reject it. In no system in which the man has the final say in what goes on in marriage and family can the wife be considered equal. There's no mutual submission.

By: David SwartzSubscribing to a political party traps you in a closed system. Christian activists on both sides are complicit in demonizing the enemy, which undermines the message of the very gospel they desire to advance.

By: Colin HarrisThe intensity of our current political climate allows truthful and more complete information to be replaced by propaganda. Misinformation becomes the wind that blows the weather vane of ethics in all directions.

By: Brian KaylorChristians do not owe their chief loyalty to either political party. By publicly endorsing a candidate, pastors will tie their own credibility - and their churches' credibility and witness - to what that candidate says or does.

By: Brian KaylorDuring this week's Democratic National Convention, delegates passed the final version of the Democratic platform, which clashes at times with positions of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

By: Brian KaylorAs the GOP holds its national convention this week and Democrats are set for next week, both parties will hash out language for their platforms, which can impact those parties and public policy decisions.

By: Barry HowardThe pulpit is a place to accent the privilege and responsibility of choosing our leaders, not a place to dictate the decision. Here are four steps for pastors who want to encourage good citizenship from the pulpit.

By: Colin HarrisOur society is defined by dueling narratives, with each side fighting to control their message. The volume and intensity of this struggle are greater than ever, but the struggle has been around a long time.

By: Zach DawesThe demand for perfect adherence to a particular faction's ideology is having a detrimental impact not only on the political processes, but also on other societal institutions, including the local church.

By: Matt SappThe presidential race turns to a new chapter today as the Iowa caucus kicks off primary season. Here are four things pastors and laity need to do as we consider which candidates get our votes.

By: Robert ParhamThe church plays a significant role in strengthening families, especially among African-Americans and Latinos, the authors of a new book said. Stronger families mean a stronger and healthier nation.

By: Terry AustinWhat personal traits and skills are important for the next president of the United States? No matter what their political party, we need someone with the qualities to identify the best approach to the issues.

By: Guy SaylesOur political process offers many valuable - albeit negative - lessons for church leaders. However, politics does teach us the importance of fashioning networks and coalitions, all for the common good.

By: Larry EubanksThe Samaritan woman has been interpreted as an immoral woman for many years, but that wasn't the view before the Reformation. Sadly, the popular view aligns with our blame-the-victim society.

By: Barry HowardTo build a healthy marriage, a minister and spouse cannot be naïve to stress factors. They should take steps to navigate these challenges with faith, discernment and intentionality. Here are 10 tips.

By: Jon KuhrtMillions who signed up to Ashley Madison, an online affair website, had their personal information hacked and made public. Rather than judgment, we should be saddened by all the grief being unleashed.

By: Colin HarrisInstead of providing substantive deliberation on important issues, our politicians increasingly rely on blunt and shocking remarks designed to give them a poll bump. But this 'politi-tainment' undermines our process.

By: Brian KaylorFaith voters remain targeted by many presidential candidates. Many GOP candidates are courting conservative evangelicals while religious appeals are less frequent among candidates on the Democratic side.

By: Phil JumpWe expect our elected officials not only to demonstrate their own integrity, but also to oversee and regulate society in a way that sustains and promotes truth and honesty. Do they deliver?

By: Mike KuhnWhether on the right or left, Christians have not been effective in changing the culture because they have sought to do it through political power. To make a difference in the culture, we need a new paradigm.

By: Colin HarrisExploiting fears has been a successful tool to manipulate people in politics and religion. While the religious crowd has put conjured fears to good use, hope – not fear – is the basis of Jesus' message.

By: Guy SaylesOur posturing and partisan name-calling on the national level make us forget our commonalities and magnify our differences. But Christians must place God's kingdom before party loyalties.

The politics of God’s Kingdom proclaims that the right Man has already been crucified, resurrected and ascended, so that all powers and principalities are under His control, and that the eternal destiny of the saints and the cosmos are under His control.

A majority of people in the U.S. want their federal elected officials to seek compromise, a new poll says. Tea Party supporters are the only group that rejects compromise in favor of sticking to their beliefs.

For the first time ever, families headed by married couples are no longer the majority of U.S. households, census data says. Families without a traditional husband and wife comprise 52 percent of households.

Freedom of speech has always given rise to extremists who abuse that freedom. When rhetoric turns violent, we need to do something about it. It's time to tone down the rhetoric and find a way to work together.

Pope Paul VI said it plainly, “ If you want peace, work for justice.” We’re meant to be witnesses for a day that’s yet to dawn! May we yearn to live differently by believing less in the wild kingdom than in the peaceable kingdom God wants to bring about with our help.

Effective leadership demands that one have the courage and audacity to look critics and sympathizers in the eye and speak truth to power. It's time for President Obama to use the bully pulpit in a prophetic sense.

As the midterm elections near, we might wonder whether our political drama has become a game rather than theater – a contest to be won rather than a reflection of who we are and of what life is at its deepest levels.

American Christians are living in a divisive time of profound paranoia and deliberate deception – much of it advanced by Christian politicians, those the prophet Ezekiel might identify as the false shepherds.

Newt Gingrich's latest jab at President Obama accuses him of having an "anti-colonial, Kenyan" worldview. When did being "anti-colonial," especially here in the U.S., a former British colony, become a bad thing?

During 13 weeks of sabbatical, it was hard not to write about a provocative news story or someone in religious life doing something bizarre. Now, with the R&R over, several things really need to be addressed.

Political campaigns thrive on negative advertising, tearing down their opponents rather than focusing on their own ideas. We cannot allow our society to persuade us that it's OK to destroy or devalue another person.

Ronald Reagan, then the GOP nominee for president, joined a who's who of conservative Christians on a Dallas stage 30 years ago, convincing many Southern Baptists and other evangelicals to join the Republican cause.

Nearly one-third of American marriages will remain religiously mixed. With interfaith marriage becoming more common and accepted, church leaders must be aware of the trend and address the implications.

As the 2010 midterm elections heat up, several GOP candidates have invoked God to support their campaigns and attack their political opponents. One even said his opponent was trying to take away the freedom "to find ... salvation."

Redefining faith as scientific truth or political ideology subordinates faith to these other realities. Out of a desire to have faith validated and affirmed by wider culture, some are allowing their beliefs to be hijacked.

Will you be married to more than one person during your lifetime? Of course, you will. When you say "I do," it's not to a static human who will always have the same values. You'll grow and change together.

It’s interesting – ironic even – that the two most popular passages of scripture recited at weddings have nothing to do with marriage or the love between a woman and a man. But I dare say you can’t attend a wedding without at least one of these passages being read.

When it comes to meaningful immigration reform, the marginalized have more to fear from political allies, who often are quick to profess solidarity but slow when they fear votes could be lost. Shame on them.

Advocates of quiverfull theology believe any kind of contraception or any desire to prevent the conception of a child during the coital act is a sin against God. Here are eight ways they miss the target.

The only way to face tomorrow is placing ourselves in the hands of the One who has told us – not three times, but thousands of times – that the only way to follow him is by way of sacrifice and service. If we will be willing to do that, though there is no guarantee where it will take us, we will know that we’re in very good company.

The new king of the unified kingdom brought the Ark home and in doing so, brought the presence of God home too. But as much of a cause for celebration it was, as much of a national victory it was, it only highlighted the internal strife of David’s private life with Michal, his political wife whom he couldn’t quite trust enough to love. And no matter how much she loved him she couldn’t move his heart to love her in return.

Global-warming denier Rep. Paul Broun is among the evangelical Christian politicians who adhere to a trinity of biblical literalism, free-market ideology and hostility toward science that endangers the common good.

America has come close to moments of racial reconciliation before, and in each instance the nation found a way or a reason to turn away from that opportunity. Will the election of Barack Obama be one more missed opportunity?

The Congressional Prayer Caucus, a group of about 40 House Representatives, announced that it is introducing "America's Spiritual Heritage Resolution." A similar resolution has failed to gain traction in the past.

In November, Sen. Barack Obama entered into history as the first African American to be elected president of the United States. Next Tuesday he will take the oath of office and become the 44th president of our country.

Hardly anything has been reported about how religious leaders are responding to the economic crisis, or even their present failure to be as forceful on behalf of the vulnerable as they have tried to be when working to influence elections and boost the political clout of their religious constituencies.

Religion has played a pivotal role in every election in this country since 1976. That remains true for our most recent presidential race as well. Even though the U.S. Constitution does not allow a religious test for public office, religious voters put the full force of their faith to work in deciding who would get their vote.

How do you say "thank you" in Spanish? Appointing a few brown faces to your cabinet or to the Supreme Court is not the answer. We should not feel gratitude for something that should be the norm. You say thank you by not ignoring the number one reason we went out to the polls and voted.

Forty years after King's death, it is noteworthy that except for North Carolina and Virginia, voters in Southern states were not part of the dramatic voting that resulted in the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's problem is its wealth. It is the size of Western Europe, and it is quite staggeringly rich in diamonds, coal, oil, and coltan, an essential ingredient in mobile telephones.

Methodists have historically had the ability to hold together the concerns of both liberals and conservatives, to preach both the evangelical and social gospels, and to attempt to understand and acknowledge the important positions deeply held by people on opposite sides of the theological or political divide, bringing them together in what some might call a "radical center."

Throughout this election year, journalists have often asked for political insights from Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. He remains a key source for the media's understanding of evangelicals and politics, despite frequently offering inaccurate analysis.

Something of an awakening occurred among many of the faithful. It's almost as if scales fell from their eyes and they saw that they were not really being represented by conservative politicians so much as they were being pandered to by them.

President-elect Barack Obama is neither the messiah, nor the antichrist. He is first and foremost a politician, whose adoring adherents deny his feet of clay and demonizing opponents refuse to respect him. Hopes are too high; despair is too deep.

Sen. Barack Obama is not a Christian, according to the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, an organization that claims advocacy for Christian religious liberty and opposition to anti-Christian bigotry.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) ran an advertisement last week accusing her challenger of being in league with "godless Americans." The 30-second ad provoked a lawsuit, counter-ads and now a new ad from Dole, which appeared during Friday's lunch hour, seeking to clarify the real issue.

Our county has such immense power, influence, and control over the lives of other nations and peoples that it would be unjust and irresponsible for individual Americans to vote only on their own self-identity and self interest within a national context.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has been criticized for spending tens of thousands of dollars of state funds on helicopter flights to attend church services. At least one visit was to a Southern Baptist church where Jindal shared his testimony and spoke about campaigning.